How To Reach Us

New Contemplations Before Eating

posted Feb 9, 2014, 3:32 PM by Willow Branch

Thay has just announced a new version of the Five Contemplations before Eating, after receiving a letter from scientists recommending replacing “global warming” with the more appropriate term “climate change.”

This change is a chance for us all to reflect deeply on what we buy and what we eat. What we buy and eat can contribute to climate change, or it can help stop it. Eating is a chance to nourish our own body with the wonders of the cosmos, knowing that we are not destroying the earth by doing so. The new contemplations are:

New Contemplations before eating:This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work.May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food.May we recognize and transform unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation.May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate change, and heals and preserves our precious planet.

We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, build our Sangha, and nourish our ideal of serving all living beings.